Black Stick-Men: The Next Paranormal Fad?

As if you needed yet another reason to be weary of leaving the sanctuary that is your home, from the annals of the paranormal comes a new freaky cryptid, or being, or whatever.

This time, the creature is so strangely silly it’s actually quite frightening, I’m referring to black stick-men. No, they are not an adaptation of the blue man group, and though they seem to be popping up everywhere, it’s unlikely they’ll be invited to perform in Las Vegas.

The first written accounting of the black stick-men appears on Listverse.com, wherein the site founder, Jamie Frater lists some of the weirdest examples of paranormal phenomenon. Black stick-men appear at number three on his list, beating out such entities as dog-head men and El Chupacabras. Frater describes them as totally black, thin, stick figures, as you might see in a

Frater says that they show surprise when they are discovered and will actually pursue witnesses, though no harm has ever been reported as a result of a stick-man encounter. It seems that there is a parallel between the stick-men and Shadow People (schattenwesen) and even the black-eyed kid phenomenon. Frater even says that some reports claim the stick-men wear “top hats”, much like Shadow People.

Frater’s list was published on Listverse.com on April 24, 2009, and if you take the time to read through the comments (which are quite long) you’ll find several first and second hand accounts of stick-man encounters, such as this one from user Simon Howes:

“In 1982, when I was a student nurse at Warley Hospital, Brentwood in Essex, England, I encountered a ‘stick person’ in the grounds of the Hospital as I was walking home one night. It lopped across the roadway having been, seemingly, pressed up against a wall. It stopped when it saw me and raised it’s arms in fright and quickly walked off into the undergrowth. It was very tall with very thin, extremely long arms and legs and a very small oval head. Totally black and no obvious clothing. I saw no face even though it emerged very near a street lamp and so was well illuminated. I was terrified and to this day, no-one believes me…”

As you can see, the phenomenon or at least witness accounts of it have been in circulation for some 30 years, making the black stick-men not so much new as rediscovered.

Apparently, a stick-man encounter leaves the witness with a pointed feeling of dread and danger, much like the feelings reported by Shadow People witnesses. Some have speculated, in the case of Shadow People, that they are inter-dimensional beings, rather than something ghostly, demonic or extraterrestrial. Could the black stick-men be visitors from another dimension as well?

Photo credit: thespiritseekers.wordpress.com

I’ve written about inter-dimensionality before, wherein I pointed out that a dimension is nothing more than a direction – i.e. up, down, back and forth. We live in a three dimensional world right? (Height, width and depth) Well actually no, we live in a world of many dimensions – many physicists believe there are 10 space dimensions and one time dimension, some think there are more – but we can only experience three of those dimensions (four if you include time). The others are tightly wrapped up into minute sub-atomic (actually sub-sub-atomic) geometric shapes that we are incapable of detecting, except through the mathematics of quantum physics.

The idea that a being could be from such a place is nonsense, mainly because other dimensions aren’t places at all. But maybe I’m being too literal, when one says that a being is from another dimension, they could be referring to, say, another universe, if you subscribe to the many-worlds hypothesis, or the multiverse theory. Others yet may be referring to something more ephemeral or perhaps a realm such as heaven or hell, but where those places may actually be is a mystery.

In any event, where they come from is only one part of the experience, and a small part at that. The black stick-men, a phenomenon that appears to be increasing in frequency, if you believe Tony Harrington of The Spirit Seekers, a phenomenon that is set to become the next paranormal fad. What they are, wispy and thin, is up for debate, and unfortunately the only evidence we have of their existence thus far is anecdotal testimony of apparently random people on internet forums and blogs.

What do you think, are the black stick-men a hoax or an urban legend, or are they a real entity? Are they connected in some way to the Shadow People or the black-eyed kids? Express your opinion in the comment section below. And as always, keep your eyes open!

Edit: While not black, the “stick-men” in the following YouTube video may just be an example of the above. Thanks to Syd for bringing them to my attention.

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this is the first I have heard of them but it reminded me of the white stick-like figures I had seen video of. Like this http://youtu.be/VHsEr_9IIVM and this http://youtu.be/b4XDcJoiXuY. Not sure if either of these are legit or not, but I haven’t seen that anyone debunked the video’s either.

Martin J. Clemens

Thanks for commenting Syd, and thanks for the links!

http://thespiritseekers.wordpress.com SPIRIT Seekers

Martin:

While I have never encountered such an anomaly, I find the idea that something of this nature existing, absolutely intriguing. Perhaps there needs to be a cataloguing of encounters, details, etc. Are they in a specific geographical area, is there a specific age range of the witnesses, moon phase, temperature, etc. I would be curious to see if there are parallels.

Sadly, I am way too lazy to do any of that.

If this article returns nearly the amount of results mine did then over the course of the next year or two you will see this comment section swell with first-hand encounters from people who have experienced encounters with these “things”.

Thanks for the mention in your article. With your permission, I will would like to add your site URL to our link library so that our users can find this site with ease.

Sincerely, Tony Harrington Editor, The Spirit Seekers Blog

Martin J. Clemens

Tony, thank you for reading and commenting, I enjoyed your article on the sick-men and it was actually the reason I looked into this deeply enough to write about it.

Feel free to link to my blog, I will do the same with yours.

http://thespiritseekers.wordpress.com SPIRIT Seekers

Thanks Martin! I have linked your site on our blog, your site link shows up under the “Paranormal Links” tab of our blog.

Hum..while I find the topic of paranormal entities fascinating, this video made me laugh. The owners of the property must have a pretty high tech security camera that not only lights up the area but makes it look as though it is only dusk. You know what would be really cool? Having a home security camera with this type of night vision capability pick up a visit by some black-eyed kids.

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I don’t know if this is still an open post or forum. But I just saw about 15 to 20 of these stick men I will call them while at church. EXACTLY as described. I described them to my wife as strutting in slow motion. I could only see them out of the peripheral vision of my eye sight on both sides of me. they were moving forward toward the preacher not giving way to any physical limitations, like pews or isles. they would spin slowly like looking for something or someone and continue forward. I have never experienced holy sprit before and not sure but today I received a message I would say (the word)or message I was given was that “if I help build God’s house, he will help with mine.” the strange thing is the church is sponsoring a mission and building a church in Slovakia and looking for money to help. i had also felt a pushing sensation while In prayer making me adjust my feet to stand. I was thinking I could volunteer some of my carpentry skills and go on this mission to help. I cant find anything on these stick men. I hate to say it seems like they are being filtered out of mainstream media. with all the media out here why am I the only one seeking this? a medium friend said these are similar to elf like fairy’s that will sometimes give her messages and I am to heed my calling and talk to preacher. please let me know why I cant find anything like this and if any one could help.

Martin J. Clemens

I think, certainly, you should help whomever you can, however you can, but within your means of course. But do it of charity, not of a calling. As mentioned above, the stickmen phenomenon is relatively new and there are very few accounts available. In all likelihood, the experience isn’t real. There are many psychological effects and ailments that can produce the visions mentioned. Having said that, yes, it’s possible that they are real, however unlikely. They are nothing to be feared though. Go through the sources I mentioned above (in the article) and you will find more information than I have included.

Songul

Please watch this:

Well this one of the rare footage’s that fascinates me. Normally I always find a logical explanation. The perfectly smooth natural movements of this creature convinces me that it is a living creature and not some kind of technical thing. And the option that it is an optical illusion of some kind of bug on the window is not convincing at all. It appears that it can think by the way it puts its ‘feet’on the bars of the wall and corners of the windows, Also the way it turns the corner on a 90 degrees angle is 3D correct. Also note; the camera is moving a little bit. If its a bug on the window the building would “move’ differently from the bug, Caused by the distance between window and building the “bug” would appear moving fast over the window with the movement of the camera while the building is standing more still. And then we still have the option that itis pc animated and for sure recorded from the screen after it was finished( brilliantly made for an amateur) So its either that or… what the hell is this thing??